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Work Absences after Cancer

It is obvious that people undergoing active cancer treatment need to miss
quite a lot of work. Those absences are due to appointments, treatments,
and days of not feeling well because of said treatments. We manage this in
a range of ways. A very supportive and flexible manager/work place is a
major help. Many of us have useful benefits like ST disability and sick
time and FMLA. Others are not so fortunate and don't get paid when they
don't show up for work; this surely adds a pressure and stress to an
already difficult period.

What about when treatment is done? In addition to the general assumption
that things will quickly return to normal, there is the belief that this
assumption includes work schedules and life. The truth may be less rosy.
Although most people regain enough energy and focus to work fairly quickly,
there are those for whom it takes longer. Again, a flexible and supportive
work place helps a lot. If you can curtail some days, it makes the recovery
easier. Then there are all the follow up medical appointments. It can seem
that every doctor who had a role, even a minor one, in your care wants to
see you several times after the first months. Those appointments spread out
pretty quickly, but they can be an issue at work.

This article from JCO, reporting a study from Sweden, indicates
that this is an issue for many women post breast cancer for the first year,
and that there work absences return to the norm shortly thereafter. I would
assume the experience is similar for people recovering from other kinds of
cancer treatment.

Purpose
To explore future diagnosis-specific sickness absence and disability
pension among women with
breast cancer compared with women without breast cancer. Also, to examine
associations with
disease-related and sociodemographic factors among those with breast
cancer.
Methods
Longitudinal register data on 3,547 women living in Sweden (age 20 to 65
years) who were first
diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, and a matched comparison cohort (n =
14,188), were analyzed
for the annual prevalence of diagnosis-specific sickness absence and
disability pension over
5 years. Logistic regressions were used to explore associations of
disease-related and sociodemographic
factors with future sickness absence and disability pension among women
with breast
cancer.
Results
Immediately after being diagnosed with breast cancer, the proportion of
women with sickness
absence was high but decreased continuously from the 1st through 5th year
after diagnosis (71%,
40%, 30%, 22%, and 19%, respectively). In comparison, the range for women
without breast
cancer was 17% to 11%, respectively. The higher prevalence of sickness
absence after breast
cancer was mainly a result of breast cancer diagnosis, not a mental
diagnosis, or other somatic
diagnoses. Advanced cancer at diagnosis, . 90 days sickness absence before
diagnosis, low
education, and being born outside Sweden were associated with higher odds
ratios for sickness
absence and disability pension (odds ratio range, 1.40 to 6.45).
Conclusion
The level of sickness absence increased substantially in women with
breast cancer during the first year after diagnosis and approached the level of breast cancer–free
women in the following years; however, even in the first year, most women were not on sickness
absence for a substantial time, and even in high-risk groups, many were not on sickness absence or
disability pension in the
following years.
Information about relatively low future sickness absence and disability
pension
levels can be used by patients when planning their work, by health care professionals, and by social
insurance officers. Employers and Occupational Health Services need this
information to adequately
handle workplace adjustments.